Good at Selling? First Make Sure You Have Something Good to Sell.

In an article for Fast Company, staff writer Elizabeth Segran details a recent revitalization at Gap. And what lessons it could hold for fellow retail brand Lululemon as it grapples with a recent decline in stock value.

After several years of declining sales, over the past two years, Gap, the legacy apparel retailer founded in 1969, has had hit marketing campaigns every season, Segran says. Tapping stars like Young Miko, Troye Sivan, and Katseye.

Fashion designer Zac Posen created a high-fashion version of the Gap label, GapStudio. Which produced red-carpet garments that were worn by celebrities like Timothée Chalamet and Anne Hathaway. It has also launched collaborations with Béis, Dôen, and Victoria Beckham, all of them huge hits.

Gap president and CEO Mark Breitbard has made it clear that this has been the result of a lot of hard work, Segran says. And has required deep knowledge of the brand.

When Breitbard took his current role in 2020, he inherited some deep structural challenges. The brand had too many stores, many of them unprofitable. It had too much inventory, which resulted in heavy discounting. The quality of the clothing had declined.

Breitbard, a Gap veteran from 2009 to 2013 and then from 2017 onwards who is steeped in supply chains and merchandizing, therefore worked to improve the quality of materials and fit.

And consumers have responded, says Segran. People rushed to Gap to buy 90s-style jeans after the video starring global girl group Katseye that featured retro denim styles, and weren’t disappointed. When Gap created an activation at the Coachella music and arts festival focused on sweats, people loved how cozy they were.

This is an important lesson for Lululemon, Segran says. The brand has had many blockbusters in its past. Including its proprietary buttery-soft Nulu fabric, which is in its famous Align pants that have generated $1 billion for the company.

Lululemon customers come to the brand for its high quality and reputation for innovation. Once the pillar of product is in place, it’s possible to bring the brand back into the cultural conversation.

Gap’s Breitbard notably didn’t push out its recent creative campaigns five years ago, Segran says. Instead, he waited until he believed the foundations of the business were in order.

Or as Bill Bernbach said, “a great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it’s bad.”